Machine for stripping insulation from electric wires



M. P. WETMCRE MACHINE FOR STRIPPING INSULATION FROM ELECTRIC WIRES FiledFeb. '7. 1921 Patented Deal8, 1923.

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- *i MINER'P. WETMORE, OF NEWARK, NEW?. JERSEY.

l MCHINE FOR STRIPPXNG XNSULTON FROM ELECTR'KC WXRE.

Application tiled February 7, 1921. `Serial No. 4,422,901.

'Numerous pieces of 'such wire, from two to ten feet in length, are usedin wiring the lighting, ignition, and other Vcircuits of a modern motorcar, and' the insulation must be stripped oil' from the-inch or so ofeach end Aof each such piece of' wire in order to permit the bared Vwireto make good contact with the binding poststhrough which4 current is'tovbe conveyed.` My present invention supplies a convenient apparatus forthus removing such-portions of insulation rapidly and neatly. vThe bestform of apparatus at present known to me embodying my in-4 vention isillustrated in g the accompanying sheet of drawin s' in which Fig. 1 isa si e .elevation of the machine, parts being shown' in section, and

Fig. 2 is an end` elevation, arts being broken away and ,othersomitted).

Throughout the drawings like reference characters indicate likeparts. 1is the end of a piece of wire in process of yhaving the Asheath ofinsulating material removed from fone, end which has been Yintroducedinto the machine. 2 is a swinging member at 4, to the stationary member3, W ich is mounted on'the main frame of the machine. The abuttingsurfaces of the arts 2 and 3 are cut away .to .leave a cylin rical spacein which the wire 1 may be firmly grasped, as in a clamp, when the part2 is swung in a counter-clockwise direction on pivot 4 by spring 26,connected to one extremity of the said moving member. 5 is a wire orother link connecting the vother extremity of the swinging member 2and-the treadle 6 so that when said treadle is depressed the said memberwill be swung in a clockwise direction and the clamping faces on 2 and 3thereby separated so `that the wire 1- may be placed'Y between them.When the treadle 6 is released the spring 26 will force the clampingfaces together on vany wire placed heivoted i tween them andY hold it inthe position shown in the drawings.

7 is-another wire or other link extending from'treadle 6, to thehorizontal arm of a bell-crank 8, the vertical arm of'which bearsagainst the end of the shaft 9, which is mounted in the rotatable sleeve13, journaled 1n a housing on the main frame. The end of the shaft 9 isnormally forced against the vertical arm of bell crank 8 by spring 22confined between the end of sleeve 13 and a collar 21 fasten the shaft.The other end of shaft 9 carries the disc 10 which has a beveled edge.This beveled edge bears against correspondingly beveled shoulders 25,25, one of which is formed on housing 11 pivoted at 12 to the side ofpulley 16, and the other of which is formed on inger 14, also pivoted topulley 16 at a point l5 opposite to the pivot 12.

Housing 11 serves as a pivoted journal bearing for shaft 24, whichcarries a disc cutter 17 on. its outer end and a pinion 18 on its innerend, which pinion meshes with a gear wheel 19, which is concentric withthe axis of the rotatable frame formed b the sleeve 13 and the pulley16, which axis is in line with the axis of the wire 1 held in v theclamp. This gear wheel 19 may be stationary, but .preferably it isrotatable on sleeve 13 and connected to a pulley 20, or other means forgiving it a positive rotation in a direction opposite to vthat in whichthe pulley 16 is rotated.

23, 23, are springs tending to swing housing 11 and linger 14`towardeach other so that they bear on the edge of beveled dlsc 10.

ln this position the end of linger 1t and the edge of disc cutter 17bear on the insulating' .covering ot the wire 1 being held inthe clamp.

27, 27, represent Vilaring l1 s the clamp faces 2 and 3 w 1ch togetherform a bell-mouthed guide for the end of the wire being introduced intothe clamp when said clamp `has been slightly opened by pressure ontreadle 6.

The modeof operatlon of the particular `:form of my invention abovedescribed is as follows Normally, the parts are in the position shown inFig. 1, the gear wheel 19 bemg rotated in one direction .and therotatable frame formed' by pulley 1.6 and sleeve 13 being rotated intheopposite dlrectlon. One spring 23 forces the end of finger 1tagainst'wire 1 and preventsl it bending away formed on lllltl is alsobeing rapidly rotated on its axis by v pinion 18 and gear wheel 19. Thiscutter 17 soon severs the part of the insulating sleeve on the end ofthe wire 1, projecting through the clamp, from the remaining insulation.The' operator then pulls the wire out of the clamp. This strips the cutportion of insulation from the end of the wire, leaving the metallicstrands thereof exposed and ready for attachment to the proper bindingposts. The operator then presses treadle 6 downward, which bothoscillates the swinging member 2 so as to open the clamp forintroduction of the end of another wire, and moves disc 10 so that itsbevelled edge wedges between bevelled surfaces 25, 25, swinging the disccutter 17 and pressure finger 14 apart softhat the end of the wire mayalso pass between them. On releasing treadle 6, spring 22 withdrawsbevelled disc 10, so that springs 23, 23, swing the disc cutter andpressure linger back into position to operate, as before described onthe Wire, which is then held by closing of the clamp.

The slight necessary movement of housing 11 on pivot 12, is notsufficient to disengage pinion 18 from gear 19, so the'disc cutter 17 isrotated continuously.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. The combination, with means adapted for loosely holding and guidingthe end of an insulated wire, but ermitting motion of said wire alongthe l1ne of its axis, of a revoluble frame journalled so that its axisof revolution will be in line with the axis of the wire so held, arotary disc knife-edged cutter having a yielding journal bearing on saidframe in a position such that the edge of thecutter may bear on thesurface of the wire so held, means for swinging said bearing so that thecutter may approach or recede from the Wire, and means for rotating bothsaid frame and said cutter about their respective axes.

2.l The combination with a hinged clamp adapted for holding the end ofan insulated wire and yielding means normally holding said clamp closed,of a revoluble frame journalled so that its axis of revolution will bein line with the axis of the Wire held in the clamp, a rotary disccutter vhaving a journal bearing flexibly mounted on the rotary frame sothat said cutter may approach or recede from the wire held in the clamp,

mechanism for rotating the frame and the j and means for simultaneouslyopening the Vclamp and swinging the cutter out ofz the' path of any wirebeing inserted in the clamp.

3. The combination with a rotary frame and means for rotating it, of arotary cutting disc mounted on one end of a rotatable shaft, a journalbearing for the other end of said shaft hinged to the rotary frame so asto swing in the plane of the axis of said frame, a pressure fingersimilarly hinged to the rotary frame at a point opposite the cutter,spring means tending to swing the cutter and finger toward each other,means for rotating the frame and the cutting disc on their respectiveaxes and mechanism adapted to be actuated by the operator forsimultaneously swinging the cutter and finger away from each other.

4. A- combination such as set forth in claim 3 in which the mechanismfor swinging the cutter and finger comprises a beveled disc concentricwith the axis of the rotary frame lyinnr between the finger and thejournal bearing for the cutter and cooperating w1th beveled surfaces onthe latter, and means for shifting said beveled disc along the line of'its axis.

5. The combination with a main frame, a clamp hinged thereon and adaptedto grasp an insulated wire, and a spring normally holding said clamp ingrasping position, of a rotatable frame journaled in the main frame withits axis of rotation in line with a wire held by the clamp, a rotatablecutting disc mounted on a shaft, a. journal bearing for said .shafthinged to the rotatable frame so that the disc may swing toward or froma wire held in the clamp, a pinion on the other end of the shaft, a gearwheel having its axis in line with that of the'rotatable frame andmeshing with the pinion, a pressure fin- 'ger hinged to the rotatableframe and opposite to lthe rotary cutter, springs tending to force thecutter and finger toward each other, a disc having a beveled edgemounted on a shaft concentric with the rotatable fra-me and wedged inbetween the finger and the hinged journal bearing for the cutting discshaft, said beveled disc shaft being movable endwise, a spring tendingto force this shaft in a direction to permit the cutter and linger toapproach one another, a treadle operated mechanism adapted to push thisshaft in the opposite direction and at the same time to swing the clampout of grasping position, and means for revolving the rotatable framepositively, and also relatively t0 the above mentioned gear wheel.

MINER P. lVETMORE.

Witnesses Ron'r. VAN BRUNT, CLIFFORD TiTCHEN.

